TUF semifinalists Neil Magny and Jon Manley targeted for UFC 157

A welterweight fight between “The Ultimate Fighter 16″ semifinalists is targeted for February.

Sources with knowledge of the bout told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Neil Magny (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Jon Manley (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will meet at UFC 157. Both Magny and Manley lost in the semifinals of this past Friday’s regular-season finale of Season 16 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which airs on FX.

UFC 157 is set for Feb. 23 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with a recently announced headliner between Ronda Rousey, the first women’s champion in UFC history, and fellow 135-pounder Liz Carmouche. The main card airs on pay-per-view with FX and Facebook likely carrying the prelims.

Magny vs. Manley likely will be part of the prelims.

Magny earned his spot in the “TUF 16″ house by beating Frank Camacho via unanimous decision. He then was coach Shane Carwin’s fourth overall pick. He was matched up right away against Team Nelson’s Cameron Diffley and won a unanimous decision with a 20-18 sweep.

He moved into the quarterfinals, where he was matched up with Strikeforce veteran Bristol Marunde. Again, he picked up a unanimous-decision sweep to move into the semifinals. But against Mike Ricci in a bout that aired Friday, with a chance to move on to this week’s live finale, he was knocked out in the first round.

Prior to winning his way onto the Season 16 cast, Magny, a onetime student of former WEC champion Miguel Torres, had four stoppages in his seven wins. His resume includes a victory over Kevin Nowaczyk, who was part of the original round of 32 fighters vying to get onto this season’s show. Since the conclusion of taping earlier this fall, Magny has been working with the team at Grudge Training Center near Denver.

Manley fought his way into the house with a unanimous-decision win over Ricky Legere Jr. and was coach Roy Nelson’s fifth overall pick on the show. In the season’s eighth episode, he submitted James Chaney with a first-round guillotine choke to move into the quarterfinals. However, in the semfinals, he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Colton Smith.

The Massachusetts-based Manley trains with the likes of UFC vets Gabriel Gonzaga and Ricardo Funch. Manley owns three rear-naked-choke finishes in his seven career victories. He owns a two-fight streak with a pair of wins in 2011 after not fighting in 2010. His only fights in 2012 took place on “TUF” as exhibition fights.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?